Could you be guilty of persecuting Christ Jesus? Is it even possible for a man to do such a thing, since Jesus has been resurrected to the heavens? Can sincerity keep us from doing such, or might we actually persecute Jesus in all sincerity and even with zeal?

Those may seem strange questions to ask. The answer might surprise you though: It is yes, we might actually persecute Jesus with sincere zeal if we are misguided.

For scriptural verification please consider the example of Saul of Tarsus, who is more commonly known as the apostle Paul. Saul was a Hebrew, and as a Roman citizen (Acts 22:28) he also had the Roman name of Paul. Paul lived during the time of Christ Jesus. He is first identified in the Bible as a persecutor of Christians shortly after Jesus was resurrected to heaven. The Bible tells us he supported those who were stoning to death a follower of Jesus named Stephen. (Acts 6:13 ; Acts 7:58) Paul persecuted the followers of Christ Jesus to the best of his ability. (Acts 8:1 & 3)

Paul was a Pharisee (Acts 23:6 ; Philippians 3:5) and trained in Jewish law at the feet of Gamaliel. (Acts 22:3 ; Acts 5:34) Paul sincerely believed in what he was doing, even as he zealously persecuted Jesus's followers. (Acts 26:9-11 ; Galatians 1:13-14) Would you think Paul a bad man, even as he killed and abused Christians? After this abusive period of Paul's life, he was used to write more books of the Bible than any other man, and was granted supernatural visions. (2 Corinthians 12:1) We thus recognize that although Paul was an ignorant man, he was not a bad one. The eyes of Jehovah were watching Paul. (2 Chronicles 16:9)

What befell Paul, and the change he underwent to become a follower of Christ Jesus answers our question as to whether we can be persecutors of Christ. As Paul was chasing after and abusing Christians, he was struck blind by a light from heaven. Paul then heard a voice from heaven ask him why he was persecuting Jesus. (Acts 9:3-8) That voice was Jesus speaking from heaven. Paul was a well educated man and he was sincere in his worship. His form of worship was badness though, because he was ignorant of truth and deceived by his religious leaders. God could see Paul's heart and knew he was sincere. For that sincerity God reached out to Paul through Christ to correct him, and to give him the opportunity to really be used by God. Although Paul was serving God in his own imagination, he was actually persecuting Jesus Christ. We can do likewise!

How then, can we be certain we are not zealously following a wrong course in our own form of worship? How can we be certain we are not persecuting Jesus? Simple: Know what the Bible says! Saul/Paul was corrected and used mightily by God because Paul listened to Christ Jesus. (Acts 9:9-22) We today must do likewise. Studying the Bible is how we do that, and the example of Paul recorded for us can help us avoid making the same mistakes he did. Paul was hurt for the rest of his life because of the terrible things he did to innocent people in his ignorance. (1 Corinthians 15:9-11) Avoid such pain to yourself by refusing to be misled so as to become a judge over others. (1 Corinthians 4:5) The Bible does of course enable us to judge bad actions, so as to avoid becoming guilty of them ourselves. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11 ; 1 Timothy 1:8-11 ; Luke 12:57) We can also reason that if someone is practicing any of these bad acts, we might want to limit close association with them. That is very different from judging them wicked as a person. We are all learning; just as they may be.

What is especially egregious is to allow other men to tell us who is wicked, as Paul allowed his religious leaders to do to him. It was Paul's grandiose teachers who told him Christians were bad. Those judgmental men created and encouraged Paul's hatred for his brothers [others who loved good]. Listening to Jesus is what set Paul free. You must follow that pattern to verify that everything you learn comes from the Bible, so any judgment you render will be scriptural and not governed by religious doctrine. Never render judgment that another person is bad. (Romans 14:4) Don't even render judgment against the bad actions (Luke 12:57) of another, unless you know personally what bad thing the person has done. If you join in the judgment of others without personal knowledge of what sin was committed, you may be joining in a pharisaical judgment by ignorant or wicked men. Isn't that what Paul did? The Bible teaches us how to avoid Paul's misguided wickedness just as if Jesus were speaking to us. If you follow the judgment of others, you may be an uncorrected Saul. If you know from the Bible to do better and you follow the judgment of others anyway, you could become bad and unworthy of life!

Praise to our Father who gave us the Bible so we might avoid becoming slaves to such thinking.

There are at least 2 additional things we can learn from the account of Paul:
1: We tend to believe others are like ourselves. - In Acts 22:3, we read that Paul asserted the men to whom he was speaking were zealous just as he was. Paul apparently believed those men were all just as sincere in their worship as he was and had been. That is a real blessing to those who are righteous at heart. They get to believe others are like they are; Righteous at heart. Those who are hateful and mean in their spirit, and wish to abuse and render judgment over others; They also get to believe others are like they are. They live alone in a sea of imagined bad people: Trapped in a mind of their own making. They can never trust or believe in anyone. They have no real friends. If they don't correct themselves there will be no future for them. Their abuse of others, which brings them no real happiness, becomes their reward. They are receiving their reward in full! (Matthew 6:2)
2: God is always a perfect judge of character. Even in Paul's wickedness, Jehovah had gotten to know him and could see Paul was righteously inclined. Thus He reached out to Paul through Christ and He was proved right in doing so. Paul used his free will to choose to follow Christ Jesus with the same zeal he had manifest in persecuting Jesus. Paul did so until he died. What made the difference? Truth. Paul listened and gained truth from Christ, and then he acted accordingly! We today can learn that exact same truth by reading God's word the Bible.
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